Half to earl a



(No Model.)

D. L. SMITH.

BUCKLE.

No. 518,125. PatentedApr. 10, 1894.-

WlTNESSES c fi gr,

INVENTOR LmweHAPmNa consul wunmarun. a. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OF ICE.

DWIGHT L. SMITH, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TOEARL A. SMITH, OF SAME PLACE.

BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 518,125, dated April10, 1894.

Application filed November 1,1893-FSerialNc. 489,702. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DWIGHT L. SMITH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Waterbury, in the county of New Haven and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBuckles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its general object. to simplify and cheapen theconstruction of buckles and at the same time to greatly improve theoperation in use.

With these ends in view I have devised the novel buckle which I will nowdescribe, referring by letters and numbers to the accompanying drawings,forming part of thisspeci'fication, in which- Figure l is an elevationillustrating one mode'in which I have carried my invention into effect;Fig. 2 an elevation illustrating another mode in which I have carriedmyinvention into efiect; Fig. 3 an end view corresponding with Fig. 2,and Fig. 4 is a front elevation illustrating still another mode in whichI have carried my invention into effect.

A denotes the frame of the buckle which is made from a single piece ofwire the ends of which are fastened together in any suitable manner asby a sleeve 3.

B denotes the hook which is engaged by the suspender ring, not shown, inthe usual manner.

C denotes a cross bar preferably made of sheet metal and provided witheyes 4 through which the sides of the frame pass and by which it issecured to the frame, and with eyes 5.

D denotes the guard which retains the suspender ring in engagement withthe hook. Either the hook or the guard is made integral with the frame.In Figs. 1 and 2 I have illustrated forms in which the hook is madeintegral with the frame, and in Fig. 4 a form in which the guard is madeintegral with the frame. It will of course be obvious that one of thesemembers, 'i. e.,either the hook or the guard must be movable relativelyto the others. In Fig. 1 I have illustrated a swinging guard, in Fig. 2a yielding guard, i. e. a guard held inits normal position by theresiliency of the metal from which 1t1s formed, and in Fig. 4 I haveillustrated a form in which the guard is rigid and the hook swings. InFigs. 1 and 2 the guard is attached at the front of the frame and inFig. 4 the hook 'is attached at the back of the frame. In Figs. 1 and 2the guard is provided with inwardly turned ends 6 which pass througheyes 5 on the cross bar and also pass through eyes 7 on the clampinglever E, the clamping lever being pivoted on the inwardly turned ends.At the lower edge of the clamping lever are inwardly turned teeth 8 andordinarily a lip 9 which maybe engaged by the finger for convenience inreleasing the web when adjusting the buckle in use. This feature of anindependently pivoted clamping lever is very valuable in use as itenables the wearer to adjust the buckle upon the web at any time withoutdetaching the suspender ring from the hook, while at the same time thepossibility of slippage of the buckle upon the web is wholly avoided.

In the form illustrated in Fig. 1 the upper edge of the clamping leveris turned inward as at 10 so as to bear against the back of the web.This engagement of edge 10 with the web serves to swing the clampinglever on its pivotal points and disengage the teeth from the web whenthe buckle is raised on the web, or the buckle held and the web pulleddown.

In the forms illustrated in Figs. 2 and4 the upper portion of theclamping lever constitutes a bearing plate 11 and the inwardly turnedends 6 of the guard are extended inward past eyes 7 and are suitablybent to form springs 12 which bear against plate 11 and act to hold theclamping lever in position to retain the teeth in engagement with theweb and to swing the clamping lever back to its engaging positionwhenever it is released after disengagement as in the act of adj ustingthe buckle on the web.

In Fig. 1 the guard is provided with a loop 13 which slips over hook Band retains the suspender ring in engagement therewith in the usualmanner. I I

In the form illustrated in Fig. 2 hook B is provided with a slot 14: inits back and the guard, which is a yielding or spring guard, is providedwith a backwardly extending toe 15 which lies in said slot. lies whollywithin the hook, that is to say the front of the guard, as at 16, liesagainst the inner side of the hook so that it cannot pass out from thehook, the'rear end of the guard, i. e. the toe, lying in the slot at theback of the hook. The sides of the front of the guard above point 16 arecurved outward as at 17 for the several purposes of ornamentation, toform a bearing for the finger to press the guard backward, and also toserve as a stop to prevent the entire guard from being forced backwardthrough the slot. In this form the downward and rearward incline of thetoe is such as to insure that the suspender ring cannot becomedetachedfrom the hook in use, while at the same time the guard will yieldsufficiently to permit the ready removal of the ring from the hook by adirect upward movement or by a lateral twisting movement.

Inthe form illustrated in Fig. 4 the loop 13 is formed integral with thebody of the buckle,

the hookin this form being the movable memher and being attached at theback of the frame, and swinging forward partially through the loop, theguard acting to retain the suspender ring in engagement with the hook inthe usual manner.

It will of course be apparent that my invention is not limited to theprecise details of construction illustrated and described as it ispracticable to greatly vary said details with- In this-form the guardout departing from the principle of my invention.

I claim 1. A buckle consisting of a frame, a cross bar having eyes 4-.by which it is attached to the frame and eyes 5, a movable member havinginwardly turned ends extending through and past eyes 5, and a clampinglever having eyes 7 through which said inwardly turned ends pass.

2. A buckle consisting of a frame, a cross bar having eyes 4 by whichitis attached to the frame and eyes-5, a movable member having inwardlyturned ends extending through and past eyes 5 and suitably bent to formsprings 12, and'a clamping lever having eyes 7 through which saidinwardly turned ends pass, and a bearing plate 11 against'which springs12 bear to hold the clamping leverin engaging position.

3. A buckle consisting of a frame having at its lower end a loop 13, across bar having eyes 4 by which it is attached to the frame, and eyes5, a hook having inwardly turned ends extending through and past eyes 5and acting to engage the loop for the purpose set forth, and a clampinglever having. eyes 7 through which said inwardly turned ends pass.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' DWVIGI-IT L. SMITH.

\Vitnesses:

WM. L. KING, MINNIE M. TRIPP.

